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Friday, February 9, 2018

Friday Thoughts: Stay or Go

I originally had this typed up and ready to go for Monday but then all
hell broke loose on Friday with trades, pot charges and allegations or marital
infidelity. Okay maybe I made that last one up (but I probably had you briefly
wondering what you had missed and who was in trouble) but the point remains
that Friday was crazy and so this post got bumped in favour of more pressing
commentary. I’ve since had to edit it a couple times (and likely within 5 mins
of posting something will happen that renders more of this irrelevant) but here
but goes anyway.

I wanted to take a look at our remain unsigned pending free agents to
see which we should be making a final push for and who may or may not end up
back in 2018.

WR Nic Demski–I heading
into the offseason I felt like we needed to retain at least one of Demksi and
Bailey. Obviously my preference would be for the more versatile/dynamic Demski.
But of the 2 he is likely to command the most money on the open market and we
are not a team with the liberty of offering many big pay days. Now that Bailey
is secured, I’m even more skeptical that Demksi will be back. I certainly want
him back and would guess the Riders do too but my gut says Demski gets more
money from another team.

DL Ese Mrabure – We would
gladly take him back given his passport and versatility along the D-line but
Coach Jones said he’s likely to get a chance down south. So he’s either NFL
bound (and I can’t see Jones saying that unless it was highly likely) or back
here if that falls through.

DL Eddie Steele –
Ratio-wise, its highly likely we need to start a Canadian on the D-line. We
currently have 0 under contract and it sounds like Mrabure is gone. I’d love to
say we are going to pony up the cash to land a Ted Laurent or Zach Evans but I
don’t see that happening. That leaves very few options if we intend on starting
a Canadian. Almost by default I would think bringing Steele back is a priority.
I would rate him as adequate but not great. In the absence of better
alternatives that will have to do. And quite frankly with Hughes and Jefferson
working alongside him and a hopefully big year for Nick James, adequate may
just be enough.

LB Otha Foster – Foster
and Jones have been together dating back to Edmonton. Foster plays the very
difficult cover LB spot and can fill in at HB. Bottom line is he’s talented,
valuable and loved by the coach. There’s only one issue… Derrick Moncrief.
Moncrief established himself as a viable starter in his rookie season at
Foster’s spot and I think his ceiling in year 2 is even higher. With Moncrief
able to fill that spot, likely for League minimum, there’s not a huge need for
us to pay a lot more for Foster. If he will agree to a discounted salary we’d
gladly keep him but with Calgary and Edmonton both in need of a new cover LB, I
bet there will be money out there for Foster’s taking.

OL Dan Clark – I have a
love for Clark much like how some people love changing diapers or repeatedly
hitting themselves in the head with a frying pan. That said, it may surprise
you to hear that I would recommend we re-sign Clark (I’ll pause here for your
shocked gasp). I have no desire to see him starting but the fact remains we
don’t exactly have a ton of OL depth or a viable alternative Centre so for
purely insurance reasons I’d keep him. Honestly Clark’s calling in life is to
the 6th OL and if we could build sufficient talent along the OL to
make that a reality, what a wonderful world it would be. Clark could go back to
scoring TDs and I could go back to not repeatedly cursing his name. Everyone
wins.

K Quinn van Gyslwyk – He has
no reason to re-sign here and we have no reason to try very hard to keep him. Over the past 2 season we’ve needed him for 2
games and 3 kicks (2 of which he missed). I think he could be a solid kicker
given the opportunity but with both Crapigna and Bartel locked up here for 2
more years his place ain’t here. I wish we would have traded him prior to this
point to at least get some return on him.

FB Spencer Moore – An
underrated “glue” guy that I would love to have back. He’s a decent blocker,
can catch when called on and plays well on special teams (15 tackles last
season). We also currently have zero fullbacks under contract. I hope we can
retain him.

DL AC Leonard – I have
made no secret that I’m not a big Leonard fan. I will admit he produced more
than I expected he would last season but with Hughes on the team and Antigha
emerging as a strong rookie last season, the time may be right to move on from
Leonard. Thing is Coach Jones would disagree with me here and my vote tends not
to count. Jones has been grooming him since he was a Tight End curiously
hand-picked to play DE. I would be surprised to see Leonard anywhere else in
the CFL than here… but I guess that really depends on if another team also
shares the view that Leonard is a DE and is willing to pay him accordingly.

RB Greg Morris – There is
a lot to like about Greg Morris. He is a Canadian that can back up both RB and
kick return. He has been productive in limited opportunities to touch the ball.
If it weren’t for the fact that he has a case of the butterfingers he could be
making a lot more money. I would love to have him back but with us clearly
going American at RB and Christion Jones as returner I’m not sure that there is
a spot for him. A utility back-up Canadian is never a bad thing and now that
LaFrance is gone it may open up room for Morris.

OL Bruce Campbell – From a
purely talent standpoint I think we would want Campbell back. Complicating
matters though are his 2 game suspension and the fact that we want to start 3
Canadian OL. I could see us holding off and if he’s still available mid-season,
bringing him in as depth/injury replacement.

DL Makana Henry – Doesn’t
appear on the Free Agency list but by my records show his deal is up. Normally
you would side with the large organization that has the official records over
the internet blogger with questionable grammatical skills but the CFL doesn’t
exactly have a pristine record when it comes to record keeping. Either way,
given that Jones gave Henry an opportunity to play when it appeared his
football career was long over, I see Henry back in Green and White in 2018
providing Canadian DL depth.